A Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first
warnings about the deadly coronavirus outbreak
has died of the infection, Chinese media say.


Li Wenliang was working as an ophthalmologist at
Wuhan Central Hospital when he sent out a warning
to fellow medics on 30 December.
Police then visited him to tell him to stop, as
authorities tried to keep the news under wraps.
The virus has now killed more than 560 people and
infected 28,000 in China.
The coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory
infection and symptoms usually start with a fever,
followed by a dry cough. Most people infected are
likely to fully recover - just as they would from a
flu.


What is Li Wenliang's story?

The ophthalmologist posted his story on the Weibo
site from a hospital bed a month after sending out
his initial warning.
Dr Li, 34, had noticed seven cases of a virus that
he thought looked like Sars - the virus that led to a
global epidemic in 2003


On 30 December he sent a message to fellow
doctors in a chat group warning them to wear
protective clothing to avoid infection.
Four days later he was summoned to the Public
Security Bureau where he was told to sign a letter.
In the letter he was accused of "making false
comments" that had "severely disturbed the social
order".

He was one of eight people who police said were
being investigated for "spreading rumours"
Local authorities later apologised to Dr Li.
In his Weibo post he describes how on 10 January
he started coughing, the next day he had a fever
and two days later he was in hospital. He was
diagnosed with the coronavirus on 30 January.

A number of posts on Chinese social media sites
have expressed sorrow over his death.
A tweet sent out by the state-run People's Daily
said that Dr Li's death had sparked "national grief".
Most of the coronavirus victims were over the age
of 60 or suffered from other medical conditions,
according to China's health authorities. Dr Li's
medical history is not known.


What is the latest on the virus in China?

China is introducing more restrictive measures to
try to control the outbreak.
Beijing has banned group dining for events such as
birthdays and weddings while cities such as
Hangzhou and Nanchang are limiting how many
family members can leave home each day.
Hubei province, the worst hit by the virus, has
switched off lifts in high-rise buildings to
discourage residents from going outside.
Its capital, Wuhan, has a lack of beds and
equipment, one senior city official said. Despite the
rapid construction of two hospitals, the volume of
patients is causing severe strain.
Reports on social media say the Wuhan
government is to carry out door-to-door temperature
checks on residents.
The city of Dali in Yunnan province was accused of
requisitioning a shipment of masks bound for
Chongqing. Dali's government said it could not do
anything as the boxes had already been distributed.
The cities of Qingdao and Shenyang also reportedly
squabbled over a medical shipment.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong has seen panic buying of
goods, including toilet rolls, and there have been
huge queues for masks.


What has the response been to the
crackdowns?

Human Rights Watch has criticised them, saying
China was "treating public health with a
sledgehammer".
Executive director Kenneth Roth said China had
suppressed reports in the early days of the outbreak
and clamped down on criticism of its handling of
the crisis.

"There's no place for secrecy in fighting an
epidemic," he said.
Although he praised Beijing for quickly sharing the
DNA sequence of the virus, he attacked the
lockdowns policy.
"Quarantines of this sort typically don't work.
Quarantines, the kind that public health officials
advocate, are much more targeted. They're aimed at
people who have been identified as having the
virus," he said.

Mr Roth said there were "huge gaps" in getting
people fed, housed and treated.
Chinese officials have strongly defended their
approach.

The latest figure to speak out was the Chinese
ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, who said the
government was doing everything it could to
control, prevent and cure the coronavirus.
But he also said the UK had overreacted by
advising an estimated 30,000 British nationals in
China to leave and that there had been
discrimination against Chinese nationals in the UK.

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